Regarding Luther

Many people know that Luther was a catalyst for the Protestant Reformation and how he nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church of Wittenberg. Here are some facts you might not know:

The Legend of Luther’s Conversion

There are many legends surrounding how Luther went from being a promising law student to a monk in 1502. The most popular story involves being caught in a terrible thunderstorm and how, after many close calls with lightning strikes, Luther vowed to become a monk in exchange for his life.

Another story has Luther falling on a dagger, severing an artery, and making his vow of conversion under the fear of death. There is even a story about how Luther was sent to a monastery after killing a fellow student in a duel.

We may never know the truth, but we do know that his decision to leave the practice of law and embrace religion was a drastic and swift change in direction.

The Pivotal Point in Luther’s Life

Luther did not consider the nailing of his theses to the Castle Church door the most critical event in his life. In his Table Talks, Luther points to the illumination he felt when understanding Romans 1:17: “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Luther often speaks of this—his “Tower Experience”—as his true moment of conversion.

Luther’s Actual Words at the Imperial Diet of Worms

Luther was invited to an Imperial Diet (general assembly of the Imperial Estates) in Worms, Germany. The intention was to encourage Luther to repent and recant of his heresies. Luther, refusing to recant, is often credited as saying, “Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise.”

Luther’s actual statement to the assembly was much more articulate:

“Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason—I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other—my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.”

Purchase Luther’s Works today!

Luther is one of the most significant figures in Western history, and now you can add this massive 55-volume collection to your Logos resources. That’s more than 22,000 pages of exposition and commentary on Scripture, theological writings, and other materials readily accessible with your other resources—perfect for personal or academic study.

But don’t wait, this special introductory price ends on November 14, 2011. Order yours today!

The thirteen-volume Great Texts of the Biblewill be shipping soon. It isn’t too late to get these commentaries, essays, and sermons while they are still 40% off of the retail price!

James Hastings, compiler of the Great Texts of the Bible, was a Presbyterian minister, theologian, and editor of many large volumes of Biblical works, including the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics (13 vols.). Hastings’ conducted most of his exhaustive editing work while he pastored. He retired in 1911.

“Is there any reason why we should be afraid of saying that the universal love of Jesus Christ, which gathers into His bosom all mankind, does fall with special tenderness and sweetness upon those who have made Him theirs and have surrendered themselves to be His? Surely it must be that He has special nearness to those that love Him; surely it is reasonable that He should have special delight in those who try to resemble Him; surely it is only what one might expect of Him that He should in a special manner honor the drafts, so to speak, of those who have confidence in Him, and are building their whole lives upon Him.”—St. John 13–21, The Love of Jesus for His Own

“Now we here have the great truth of a suffering Messiah, a suffering Redeemer, brought out in all its fullness as we have it nowhere else in the Old Testament. The details are so striking that we cannot wonder that again and again this passage is quoted in the New Testament, as having its fulfillment in Christ.”—Isaiah, Vicarious Healing

“For what is enthusiasm? It is a Greek word which means the fullness of Divine inspiration. It implies absorbing and passionate devotion for some good cause. It means the state of those whom St. Paul has described as “fervent (literally ‘boiling’) in spirit.” It describes the soul of a man no longer mean and earthly, but transfigured, uplifted, dilated by the Spirit of God.”—Romans 9–16, Outward, Inward, Christward

The Great Texts of the Bibleis full of soul-stirring reflections and teaching which stretch across the entire canon of Scripture. You will find lifetime of encouragement within The Great Texts’ 9,700 pages.

Logos Talk’s Recommended Commentary Series highlights some favorite commentaries by Logos academics and the user community.

We Want to Hear from You!

Each week we will post a forum thread asking which commentaries, available from Logos, are your favorites for a specific book in the Bible. This is a great opportunity to let other Logos users know which commentaries you have found valuable in your studies.

John Commentaries

We asked Logos Educational Designer Johnny Cisneros to give us his favorite commentaries on John. Here are a few of his choices in no particular order:

Old Testament

New Testament

Logos just finished shipping the last of the free Perseus Collections. This was no small feat! Our initial offering of the Perseus Collections was wildly successful. Now that we have shipped the last of those orders, we have made the Perseus Collections available again!

What People Are Saying about Perseus

Perseus has created quite a bit of excitement on the Logos Forums, but that’s not the only place you can experience the buzz. Many bloggers have been discussing the value of having these collections available from Logos.

Here are just a few of those reviews:

“Logos has done us all a great big favor by making this available and then they went above and beyond by making sure it was free and integrated. I’m sure you’ll enjoy having these resources.”—Brian LePort

“Good research requires, doesn’t it, source materials. Too much scholarship is based on references to works that are references to works that are references to works. Length of bibliography doesn’t guarantee accuracy, however, as sometimes mistakes are simply canonized by constant repetition. With these tools at hand, authentic research can be done.”—Dr. Jim West

“Now there is a convenient way to do Greek New Testament (and LXX) word studies that not only give you material from other parts of Scripture (or Josephus or Philo or the Greek Pseudepigrapha), but a huge collection of classical literature! This is awesome!”—Nijay Gupta

“I think the material is a wonderful addition to the program and as easy to access and search as all the other resources available in the Logos Bible program, which is the program I use for all my Bible study, Bible reading, and Bible teaching. I’ve also made use of Logos Bible Software in writing my books. In fact, I wouldn’t want to be without the program. It’s made things much easier for me and saved me enormous amounts of time.”—R. P. Nettlehorst

“So by now it should be obvious just how useful having these resources in Logos 4 really is. Once you start adding search features into the equation then the usefulness is increased exponentially.”—Nick Norelli

If you are looking for even more positive reviews, you can check out these blogs as well:

Perhaps you missed out on Perseus the first time around because you weren’t sure how you would use them. While these collections certainly aren’t for everyone, the responses have been overwhelmingly positive. If you have decided you would like the Perseus Collections for yourself, they are available now—and they’re still free!

There are a number of titles on Pre-Pub which are incredibly close to crossing the 100% mark and heading into production. The following twenty-two Pre-Pubs need just a few more orders to nudge them over the line.

Pre-ordering your resources on Pre-Pub is one of the easiest ways to get the books you need at a remarkable value. Many Pre-Pubs are priced at over 70% off their retail price!

So take a few moments and check out these resources. You may find a couple titles you have been on the fence about or even discover some titles you have missed. Either way, ordering them on Pre-Pub will guarantee you are getting a smoking deal.

Old Testament Studies

If your Old Testament studies are feeling a little anemic, why not bulk up by adding one of these resources to your library?

Language Studies

If linguistics are more your thing, here are a couple collections featuring grammars, dictionaries, textual criticisms, Aramaic studies, and even an update of the 1919 Chinese Union translation of the Bible.

Logos Talk’s Recommended Commentary Series highlights some favorite commentaries by Logos academics and the user community.

We Want to Hear from You!

Each week we will post a forum thread asking which commentaries, available from Logos, are your favorites for a specific book in the Bible. This is a great opportunity to let other Logos users know which commentaries you have found valuable in your studies.

Luke Commentaries

We asked Logos Educational Designer Johnny Cisneros to give us his favorite commentaries on Luke. Here are a few of his choices in no particular order:

Indulgences were promises sold by the church in the form of certificates for a full or partial release from the temporary punishment for absolved sins—whether in this life or in purgatory. Though Prince Frederick III the Wise had forbidden the sale of indulgences in Wittenberg, many of the devout were travelling great distances to purchase them. To Luther’s great frustration and sorrow, many of his congregants were presenting their indulgences to him claiming they no longer had to repent of their sins.

Luther wrote his 95 Theses with the intention of inviting scholars into a discussion on indulgences. The subtitle of his theses read, “Out of love and zeal for truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following theses will be publicly discussed at Wittenberg under the chairmanship of the reverend father Martin Lutther, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology and regularly appointed Lecturer on these subjects at that place. He requests that those who cannot be present to debate orally with us will do so by letter. In the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”

These theses were nailed to the door of Castle Church facing Wittenberg’s main thoroughfare. Operating as a bulletin board of sorts, the door of Castle Church was a fairly common place to post important notices. With this posting, Luther also sent out a few handwritten comments to select clergy. It was scarcely two weeks before copies made their way throughout Germany—and they spread throughout Europe in less than two months!

Just as the largest flames are started from the smallest of sparks, the dissemination of these theses is known as the catalyst for the Protestant Reformation. Many churches and communities throughout the world celebrate October 31 as Reformation Day.

Check Out Logos’ Reformation Resources

In recognition of Reformation Day, Logos is offering a guide of featured books and collections relating to the Protestant Reformation.

The Reformation Product Guide offers something for anyone who wishes to study the Reformation, including dozens of collections and books by some of the most renowned Reformed theologians as well as detailed histories and biographies about the Reformation and its leaders. Don’t miss out on these great works!

Today we are announcing a new partnership with Augsburg Fortress and Concordia to make the 55-volume set of Luther’s Works available for download. This collection had been available in Libronix via CD-ROM for several years, and we’ve received several requests to offer it as a download. Now, we’re thrilled to announce it’s finally a reality.

Even better, for just a few weeks, you can take advantage of special introductory pricing. Normally, this collection retails for $259, but for a limited time, you can get Luther’s Works for only $229. You’ll need to act fast—this price is going up in November!

About Martin Luther

No other person is more closely identified with the Protestant Reformation than Martin Luther. By nailing the 95 Theses to the Wittenberg door, he began a process of renewal which resulted in a profound shift in faith, politics, and society. He has been both praised and vilified, and he continues to influence Christians of all traditions and animate the movement that bears his name.

This collection is the authoritative edition of Luther’s Works. The first half of the set contains Luther’s exposition of Scripture, and the second half contains his letters, sermons, theological treatises, and various other writings. As Jaroslav Pelikan and Helmut Lehmann have written:

[Luther] can provide his reader with bits of autobiography or with political observations as he expounds a psalm, and he can speak tenderly about the meaning of faith in the midst of polemics against his opponents. It is the hope of publishers, editors, and translators that throughout this edition the message of Luther’s faith will speak more clearly to the modern church.

If you’ve been waiting for the download of Luther’s Works, then this is the perfect time to add it to your library—just in time for Reformation Day. But remember, the introductory pricing is going up next month, so download it today!

The Gospel of John: A Commentary, by Frederick Dale Bruner, weaves together commentary from church giants like Luther, Calvin, and Augustine—then provides insight and application useful for today’s reader.

In The Letter to the Galatians, editor and translator Ian Christopher Levy gathered six medieval commentaries on Galatians that were previously not available in English, translated them, and added comprehensive introductions.

Join these New Testament scholars on their journey of research and reflection on Romans, John, and Galatians by adding the Eerdman’s New Testament Commentary Collection to your Logos library. Be sure to check out this collection while it’s on Pre-Pub for $99.95—that’s over 50% off the retail price!

Is there a better way to start the day than with an encouraging devotional? A devotional serves as a reminder to get into the Word daily and guides us to dig deeper into Scripture.

Daily Treasures from the Word of God, on Pre-Pub now for just $12.95, provides daily readings that will take you through every book of the Bible. By the end of the year, you will have read the Old Testament through once and both the New Testament and Psalms twice.

Entries in Daily Treasures from the Word of God address a variety of topics drawn straight from Scripture. You’ll also find practical outlines which work great for personal or group Bible studies and sermon preparation.